Lost in the great machine…
Finn’s childhood in the valley is idyllic, but across the plains lies a threat. Engn is an ever-growing, steam-powered fortress that needs a never-ending supply of workers. Generation after generation have been taken away, escorted into its depths by the mysterious and terrifying ironclads, never to return.
The Masters of Engn first take Finn’s sister, then his best friend, Connor. Finn thinks he, at least, is safe – until the day the ironclads come to haul him away, too. Yet all is not lost. In the peace of the valley Finn and Connor made a pact: a promise to join the mythical wreckers and end Engn’s tyranny.
But now on his own, lost and broken in the vastness of Engn, Finn begins to have doubts. Is Connor really working to destroy Engn?
Or has he become part of the machine?
“a world of mystery and steampunk” – British Fantasy Society
“an amazing steampunk novel”
“I was totally hooked – it was responsible for 2 nights lost sleep”
“Intriguing and engrossing. The machine city is a place of wonder and horror”
“A steampunk Gormenghast”
Engn is currently a duology: Engn and Engn II – The Clockwork War. They’re literary YA; clockpunk, steampunk adventure stories about loyalty, friendship and trust, but they’re also about the way certain ideas become so large and so pervasive that we stop questioning them, stop even seeing them or thinking that the world can be any other way. Finn, the hero, is simply one of those people who dares to think different ideas.
One day, the duology might become a trilogy: Engn III – The Steam-powered Man is still at the blueprint stage, still lying in disconnected and broken pieces upon the floor, waiting to be assembled. If you’re interested in knowing the ultimate fate of Engn, and the truth about seismium, and what happens to Finn and the Lords of the High Ice, get in touch to let me know.
Meanwhile, question what they tell you can’t be questioned, and beware the tyranny of the clocks…
